Whether you’re the owner of an established business, or just taking off into the exciting status of “business owner,” one thing you’ll need to take into consideration is your company’s logo. Even more so than your website, your company’s logo is your first impression. It is your whole identity wrapped up into a neat little mix of type and image.
As with anything in the world, trends shape the culture of logo design. What worked 20 (or even 5) years ago, may not work today. A once brilliant and descriptive logo then can now simply say “out-dated” or that a company hasn’t put effort into maintaining their public image. How could that be? What about text and shapes can go out of style? A lot, actually.
For our first case study, let’s take a look at Apple.
Here you can see Apple’s design changes over the years. For a company that is trying to be innovative, their logo should portray that.
Now, to be fair, let’s look at Microsoft’s example.
You can see an evolution here.
Looking at our previous examples, companies should occasionally stop and take a look at their brand identity and see whether or not it is portraying the correct message to it’s customers. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Who is your customer?
When creating your logo (or re-designing it), it’s important to know who your target market is. Are you a physician? Then your logo should communicate a sense of professionalism and expertise. Are you a carpenter? Then you’re not going to have the same logo as the physician.
Color says a lot.
If you’re a men’s health company, pink is probably not going to be the best option for your logo design. While you’re creating your logo (or hopefully having a professional do it), it’s not always about what your favorite color is. Certain colors and color combinations have cultural meaning.
Keep it simple!
Your logo should only be an identifier, not an advertisement. It’s good that your design will have something to do with your practice or service offered, but the specific details can be presented in a different fashion.
To conclude, your company’s logo should be held in very high regard. It is your first impression. It is the label that people remember your company by. Take some time with it! If you have a tighter budget, the 2 things that you should spend a bit more on is your website and logo.
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